This theater was once a commercial building (The Wheeler Blase Company) that was transformed into a theater in December 1937 by Peter Schramm.

Henry Vander Horst completed the work for $30,000. The Kalamazoo Gazette, in its review of the renovations noted the theater’s Art Deco design, its sleek glass and stainless steel materials, and its many innovations. These included magic eye entry doors and drinking fountains – both of which would operate automatically as a patron apporached. The theater also had a second floor soundproof cry room for parents and babies.

After 20 years of life, the Uptown closed in 1959. In 1967, the Schram estate sold the building to Waber Development, who made alterations and leased the building for a number of years. In 1991, the city’s Downtown Development Authority took title and razed the building for the Arcadia Creek Redevelopment.